This photograph is out-of-date. It shows, just east of Tower Bridge in London, the bronze statue of Dr Alfred Salter. But in November, 2011, it was stolen by metal-thieves, and presumably melted down.

Not only Alfred but his wife, Ada, were legendary figures even in their own life-times, and their work for the community was internationally acclaimed. The doctor brought free, state-of-the-art medical facilities into the slums of Bermondsey. He created an ‘NHS before the NHS’. Ada helped thousands with her social clubs, especially for young working women, and later through her ‘Beautification Committee’ she covered the slums with gardens, trees, flowers, children’s playgrounds and open spaces for music and sports. Together they cleared away hovels and built model housing in accordance with garden-city ideals.

Should the metal-thieves be allowed to win and despoil the memory of this altruistic couple? The Salter Statues Campaign thought not. That is why we appealed for funds. The sum was large because of the extra security needed to stop any theft in the future.

* We aimed to include a statue of Ada this time, so that some good came out of the metal-thieves’ action. Her statue will be one of only 15 public statues of women in London (and three of those are Queens), the only public statue of a female politician (Margaret Thatcher being inside the Guildhall), the only public statue of a woman trade unionist, the only public statue of a woman environmentalist and the only public statue of a Quaker woman.

* Ada sacrificed a comfortable life in Northamptonshire to help the poor of London, and Alfred sacrificed a brilliant medical career, only for their daughter, Joyce, to die of scarlet fever in the slums. That is the tragic story told by the ensemble of statues, created by the artist, Diane Gorvin. The four statues are a true work of art, a truly human story.

* Our original target was £50,000, with Southwark Council providing match-funding for an estimated cost of £100,000. So at the beginning of December, just in time for the next bank holiday at Christmas and New Year when the area gets a lot of visitors, the new statues were unveiled. This included replacing Alfred’s stolen statue, adding the first-ever statue of Ada, re-installing the statue of their daughter, Joyce, with cat, and installing extensive security (the biggest single cost, thanks to the metal-thieves) so the statues were never stolen again.

* This year we were told that the cost of sophisticated CCTV had increased and that £60,000 would be needed. To our delight, this was no problem. Donations continued to arrive at an amazingly generous rate as the Campaign became more widely-known. So:

We are delighted to announce that we have now raised the full total required.

When looking at the statues, many children are filled with questions such as why the statues are dressed funny. This led us to take a look at the clothing worn during the times of the Salters. One particular piece of clothing that they wore commonly back then was corsets. These garments seem to be making a strong comeback. Corsets were utilized in older days to decrease the size of waistline.
These corsets which were worn by ladies provided an hourglass shape to the girls and for one reason was to make them appear more attractive to the gentlemen. Corsets cinch tightly into the waist thereby providing a great look and figure. Girls at the time could acquire ideal curves by sporting a good corset. Lots of women were obsessed with having a slimmer appearance, and so they were quite tight during Victorian times. Nowadays, modern technology has been applied by the creators of this attire to make corsets comfortable to wear and also don’t create any distress for those who wear them. Corsets nowadays are often referred to as waist cinchers or waist trainers in the UK.

Though, conventional Victorian corsets aren’t in use nowadays, but lots of women feel happy since they have substantially reduced the weight of their clothing from sporting Victorian corsets. Many people who have old fashioned corsets or waist trainers don’t use them anymore to reduce their waist. Modern corsets have also taken their well-deserved place since they’re composed of soft fabric and don’t cause pain on the waistline. Corsets can be found in various styles and materials, and folks wear a corset or waist trainer for an undergarment beneath the primary outfit. However, the opposite is often the case where in many areas of the world, girls wear corsets even above their main costume to boost their appearance and visual appeal. Previously, it had been thought it’s not feasible to perform much movement wearing a tight waist training corset since it tightens the waistline so that it’s quite tough for a girl to move around comfortably. However, this isn’t so because many girls wear contemporary corsets and waist trainers all day and sometimes even for exercise. They wear corsets in celebrations, functions and also dancing when wearing them. Waist trainers have also be feature a lot in the press recently.

The debut of the bra helped to bring about the fall of corsets. However, some kinds of corsets stayed in popularity during the 1920s. Corsetry experienced short periods of renewed interest during the upcoming decades, but never once created a recovery. It had been the fetish style of the 1980s that caused another renaissance of the corset.

Contemporary evening corsets are made out of soft fabric like cotton. The front part of the corset is created with the steel busk and there’s a lacing in the rear so that girls can easily put one on. Lots of women tighten the lacing to acquire a smaller waist and corsets can play the same as is performed with a bra. It can help to maintain a ladies bust in position. Communities with an interest in ancient fashions and equipment often still wear the old fashioned corset regularly. Corsetry today involves Victorian tight-lacers and waist cinchers with metal boning and much more comfy corset-look shirts. They’re popular with girls seeking legitimate waistline reduction, fetishists and people looking for a conservative appearance.

In case you haven’t ever worn a corset, then it’s strongly suggested that you enter corsetry and waist training gradually. Start with some corset-look bustier containing stiffening cloth but no true boning. From that point, think about moving to some soft corset with elastic plastic remains. Corsets with metal remains have to be carefully fitted on account of the probability of harm. Check a specialist corset or waist trainer maker to have a steel-containing corset especially designed for you.